


Propositions & Complications

by wonwoozi



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: ? kinda, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Delinquent Jaebum, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Preppy Jinyoung, Smoking, Tongue Piercings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 13:39:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6118144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonwoozi/pseuds/wonwoozi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Park Jinyoung, the class president from a wealthy family, had asked Im Jaebum, a delinquent who cares little for school, to pretend to date him for 6 months, he really wasn't expecting a yes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposition

**Author's Note:**

> hey yo i should be working but whats a school term without a little neglect for essays and a lot of self indulgent fic? idk how frequently i'll update this but i hope it sounds interesting???//!!!!!

Jinyoung pushes the heavy green door open with a sigh, fully prepared to kick it too, if need be. He is not in the fucking mood.

Once he’s out on the roof, he falls back against the door with a sigh, letting the cool metal surface chill his sweaty palms. He just needed to get out.

He hears a noise from the other side of the roof and his eyes snap open, looking for the source. He notices the top of a head poking out from behind the large potted plants and raises a brow. Who else is skipping lessons? He feels the need to reprimand them but well...that would be.. somewhat hypocritical to say the least.

He strolls over, hands in pockets, until he’s looking down a boy with headphones plugged in. He doesn’t seem to have noticed Jinyoung’s presence, must be listening to his music pretty loudly, so Jinyoung decides to lean down and tap him on the shoulder. The boy jumps a little and rips out an earphone.

“What the fuck do you want?” He asks, looking up. Recognition passes through both of their eyes.

“Why the fuck is the class president bunking class?” Jaebum asks with a quizzical expression. Jinyoung sighs. Of all people, he should’ve expected Im Jaebum to be the one bunking classes.

“None of your business. Why aren’t _you_ in class?” He asks, appreciating the way the hot sun falls on his back. He’s been cooped up doing work for the past 2 weeks and hasn’t found much time to appreciate the weather lately.

Jaebum looks up at him like he’s stupid. “It’s none of your business?” He answers with a cocky smile and it makes Jinyoung’s lip twitch. He spots the cigarette packet discarded to Jaebum’s side.

“Are those cigarettes?”

Jaebum glances at them and Jinyoung notices him swallow guiltily. He rolls his eyes.

“You’re not in trouble, I was just wondering if I could have one?”

Jaebum stares up at him in surprise.

“And why does our precious class president want to smoke all of a sudden? Did you get a blemish on your punctuality record?” He asks, cocking his head to the side with a smile, but he grabs the packet anyway. Jinyoung can see Jaebum's tongue piercing when he talks and it's kind of distracting but he pushes it out of his mind.

“Just give me one or I’ll turn you in.” Jinyoung says out of frustration, close to stamping his foot.

Jaebum snorts but offers him one anyway.

“Thanks.” Jinyoung mutters as he takes a seat next to Jaebum, who looks a little uncomfortable, but he doesn’t move away.

They stare out at the cityscape in front of them, the warm sun shining down warmer with every second that ticks by. It’s the beginning of September, they’ve practically just got back from the holidays, and Jinyoung’s already finding it hard to deal with everything. The summer heat makes it hard to focus on studying and it’s not yet cool enough to go out in anything but short sleeves, meaning he has to begrudgingly roll up the arms of his shirt, regardless of how uncouth it looks. The cigarette burns his throat and he coughs the first few drags he takes, and honestly he doesn't like it, but it feels like it’s helping to calm him down.

Jaebum glances at him and Jinyoung can’t tell if it’s out of concern or confusion but he doesn’t particularly care.

“I’ll tell you why I’m skipping if you tell me why you are.” Jaebum suggests, leaning his head back against the plant pot, eyes shut.

Jinyoung side-eyes him but decides there’s not much Jaebum can do with the information.

“My parents keep getting on my tail about finding someone to date, because clearly my grades don’t make me a perfect enough son, and there’s this girl following me around and she keeps giving me chocolates and confession notes but I’ve told her I’m not interested. Like, I literally told her I’m not into girls and she said she doesn’t believe me and that she’s going to win me over somehow. Can you believe that?” Jinyoung confesses. It all comes out practically in a single breath and Jaebum takes a moment before nodding.

“Well that sucks.” He comments and Jinyoung agrees. “I guess that’s straight people, eh?”

Jinyoung blinks at him.

“Wait- you’re not straight?”

Jaebum yawns and shakes his head.

“I’ve been with girls and guys. More girls though.”

“Do your parents know?”  
Jaebum shakes his head again.

“Nah, and I’d like to keep it that way. Too much unnecessary stress.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes, Jinyoung mulling his situation over in his head.

“I’m just skipping because I hate school, as I’m sure you know, nothing exciting.” Jaebum says unprompted and his eyes are shut again.

Jinyoung watches him, the way his chest rises and falls, and can’t help but ponder how Jaebum turned out like this. He’s never been close with Jaebum but they’d been at the same school together since they were 8 and Jinyoung remembers how Jaebum used to be so enthusiastic and full of life. He just slowly started handing in homework later and then not at all, taking less and less interest in school and then he stopped going to classes altogether. Some students say they've seen him working shifts at a pizza delivery place but Jinyoung couldn’t confirm that. He wonders if Jaebum's just a little strapped for cash.

Suddenly an idea pops into his head.

“Hey, uh, Jaebum, do you think you could help me out with my problem?”

Jaebum opens an eye to study him, eyeing his face.

“How can I help _you_ , Park?” He asks but it’s a genuine question, not a sign of interest.

“Ok I have a proposition for you. How would you like to make some cash?”

Jaebum quirks a brow.

“So you know how that girl keeps following me around? Well, I’m pretty sure she’ll stop if I’m dating someone. Dating a boy. So… would you be willing to pretend to date me? I’ll pay you and everything.”

There’s silence. And then,

“Are you _fucking_ kidding me?”

Jinyoung shakes his head.

“No, I’m serious. Look, I know we don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, but I’m willing to overlook your rude graffiti about me if you do this. Please.” Jinyoung’s kneeling now, just a little taller than Jaebum sitting down, with his palms pressed together.

Jaebum looks at him incredulously.

“You fucking rich kids, thinking you can throw your money at the nearest person and they’ll be fine with it. You can’t just buy me out, Jinyoung, what the fuck?” He all but spits.

Jinyoung looks at him earnestly.

“Please, Jaebum, I wouldn’t be asking if I weren’t desperate. I’ll make it worth your while, you need money for drugs? I can do that. Want a trip to Paris? Sure.”

Judging by the offended look on Jaebum’s face, Jinyoung’s said the wrong thing.

“Did you not _hear_ what I just said?”

“Look. I know you don’t want money thrown at you, and if there’s anything else I can offer you, I will. It’s just… Don’t think of it like me handing you money for a favour, look at it like a job, a transaction. You pretend to be my boyfriend to get her and my parents off my back, I help you out financially, it’s a win-win situation. You can use it to get… I dunno, more piercings or whatever you spend your money on.” He shrugs.

Jaebum looks down at his hands, arms resting on his knees. He looks conflicted and Jinyoung’s hoping his offer will pull through.

“How much money are we talking here?”

“Hm, ￦800,000 a month any good? I can do more if I really have to, you’d only have to keep it up until prom at the end of the year. That’s like...” Jinyoung pauses to calculate. “6 months?”

Jaebum seems to nod to himself, staring out in front of him. Jinyoung feels nervous. He’s never even considered doing this kind of thing before but he's desperate for the distractions to go away so he can focus on his work. Besides, it would stop all the girls who were constantly checking him out in the corridors.

“Okay fine, I’ll do it. But only because I really need the money at the moment. And only on certain terms.” Jaebum agrees and, for a second, Jinyoung thinks his soul has left his body. Did Im Jaebum just agree to be his fake boyfriend? Like, don’t get the wrong idea, Jinyoung finds Jaebum extremely arrogant and annoying and hard to deal with, but he’s intimidating and pretty fucking hot so he’s perfect for the job.

He breaks out into a smile of relief and Jaebum looks away.

“I can’t believe I’ve fucking agreed to this…” He hears him mutter. The school bell rings out and catches their attention.

“Okay cool, so do you want to meet up tomorrow lunch to discuss terms and… rules and stuff? Like things that we can and can’t do?” Jinyoung asks, shoving his hands into his pockets once more.

Jaebum looks at him with narrowed eyes and whether it’s out of distaste or because of the sun, Jinyoung isn’t sure.

“Fine.” He shrugs before grabbing his lighter and pulling himself to his feet.

Jinyoung holds out a hand. Jaebum peers down at it suspiciously before taking it in a shake and Jinyoung's mouth curls into a smile.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”


	2. Terms and Conditions Apply

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to clarify i still dont really know where im going with this but! i have a bit of it planned out so hopefully it wont be a total trainwreck :^) also this is unbeta'd for now im rly sorry but im so tired ;n;

Jaebum shoves his hands in his pockets as he trudges out of the classroom, ignoring the whispers surrounding him. It’s the same old stuff, ‘wow I can’t believe Jaebum showed up for class today’, a classic. Why is everybody so damn interested?

He’s on his way to meet up with Jinyoung and there’s an odd feeling lying low at the pit of his stomach, and it's making him feel slightly queasy. He’s considered backing out of the bargain multiple times already but then he thinks about the money and how desperate he is and decides to pull himself together. It’s a pretty good bargain, shouldn’t require much effort on his part, all he has to do is fake it. That's all he has to do.

The temperature today is even hotter than yesterday, and Jaebum’s had enough of the girls staring at his loose tie and open collar. His satchel bounces against his hip with every step he takes and he just wants to go and lie on the roof by himself, plugged into his music, but he spots Jinyoung sitting at one of the picnic tables and is reminded of his prior engagement.

 

Jinyoung’s sleeves are rolled up uncharacteristically and he’s got a notepad in front of him, his pen painting thin lines on the page, each stroke coming together to create what seems to be a drawing.

He looks up at Jaebum with a startled expression as the other dumps his bag on the table and takes a seat opposite, ignoring the confused looks the people around them send their way.

“Jaebum.” Jinyoung acknowledges him with a nod, before ripping out his page and crumpling it up into a tiny, defeated ball. He throws it in the nearby trash can.

“Was that a drawing of yours?” Jaebum asks curiously, fairly sure he’s never seen Jinyoung take an interest in art.

“It’s nothing, just a silly hobby, anyway. We have other matters to discuss.”

Jaebum hates the way Jinyoung makes this whole thing sound far more serious than it is.

Jinyoung jots something down on the page and pushes it towards Jaebum so he can see it properly. He’s drawn a table with the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ on either side and Jaebum can already tell he doesn't want to have this conversation.

“And this is?” He queries, a look of contempt sitting comfortably on his face. Jinyoung stares at him with frustration as Jaebum pulls out his bottle, nudging the paper away.

“It’s going to be a list of the things we can and can’t do, obviously. For example, one of my preferences, no groping.”

Jaebum almost chokes on his water as Jinyoung looks at him, unimpressed.

“And why in bloody hell would I want to grope you?!” He demands, wiping away the water around his mouth with the back of his hand.

Jinyoung narrows his eyes.

“Because if you’re going to pretend to be my boyfriend, it might cross your mind, and I just want you to know it’s off limits, okay? Besides, I have a nice ass, I’m not ashamed to admit it.” He shrugs and Jaebum feels as though he can see the arrogance oozing out of him, dripping off his every word. He’s not going to argue, however, because he’s never really studied Jinyoung’s ass and he’s not sure he would win that fight.

“Now, do you have anything to add? I’ve already written up my list, I’ll give it to you before you leave.”

Jaebum gives him a weird look before staring down at the paper. This whole ordeal seems surreal, the idea of Park Jinyoung, pretentious snob extraordinaire, being his fake boyfriend for 6 months. If he’d have told himself last week that he’d be doing this, his past self would’ve never believed him. Heck, he still can’t believe he’s doing it. ‘ _Do it for the money’_ he tells himself, repeating it like a mantra.

“Can we, like, keep the pda to a minimum? I’m not exactly a very touchy guy.” Jaebum explains, running his tongue against his teeth, a habit he’d picked up since he had his piercing done.

“Sure, I’m fine with that, but you’ve gotta be more specific.”

Jaebum sighs.

“Okay, uh, no saying ‘I love you’ and try to avoid all that couple clothing stuff, it’s weird. Also, I don’t mind hand holding and hugs, but I completely object to the words ‘baby’ and ‘honey’. Other pet names are fine but I draw the line at those two.”

Jinyoung nods thoughtfully.

“Anything else?”

Jaebum hums and leans on his hand.

“What about kissing?” Jinyoung continues and Jaebum can feel his face turn pink.

“What?! Oh, um…” He feels a bit stupid for not having considered it before. Couples do kiss in public a lot, don’t they?

“I can like… kiss you on the cheek if I need to, but I’d really rather keep the lip action to a bare minimum. Reserved for special occasions, something like that.” He answers, suddenly feeling rather self conscious, which is unusual for him.

Jinyoung nods and writes it down and Jaebum feels like he’s signing up for a dating site or something.

He sees Jinyoung look at him from his peripheral and turns to notice the other’s slightly rosy cheeks.

“Sorry to ask you this, but I have quite nosy friends, where do we draw the line at fabricating, ahem, tales about our relationship?” He inquires and Jaebum’s not quite sure why Jinyoung’s blushing so hard until it hits him. _Oh._

“Wait, you mean, like… physical tales?”

Jinyoung nods. This whole thing is so incredibly awkward and Jaebum has no clue how they’re supposed to fool people into thinking they’re in a legitimate relationship.

“Well... I dunno, go wild I guess?” Jaebum scratches the back of his neck as he talks, making sure nobody appears to be listening.

“You don’t mind what I say?” Jinyoung challenges.

Jaebum shakes his head.

“What if I say you’re terrible in bed but I put up with it because I like you a lot?” Jinyoung replies with a smirk, resting his cheek in his palm. Jaebum glares at him.

“Hey, okay, that’s uncalled for. I’m very good in bed, I’ll have you know, ask any girl I’ve been with.”

Jinyoung chuckles to himself.

“Sure, sure. Okay, so as long as I pat your ego when lying about our non-existent activities, I think we’re good to go.”

Jaebum can’t help it when his eyes roll to the side and he clicks his tongue.

“We just need to decide who asked out who and where we went on our first date. I can tell anybody who asks that we’ve been dating for 2 weeks but didn’t tell anybody in case it didn’t work out. That way it looks less sudden.”

“Remind me why I’m doing this again?” Jaebum groans. Jinyoung rubs his fingers together to mean money and Jaebum nods.

“Fine, fine. But since it’s money on a monthly basis, I can pull out whenever, and you only pay me for the number of months I’ve done, okay?”

“Fair enough.” Jinyoung grins.

Jaebum sighs and rubs his eyes.

“When do we start?”

“Monday.” Jinyoung confirms and Jaebum realises he has two-and-a-bit days left of freedom before he’s stuck pretending to be Park Jinyoung’s lover. It sounds weirder and weirder every time it’s repeated.

 

 

When Monday finally comes around, Jinyoung feels slightly nervous, the sickly feeling in his stomach refusing to subside, no matter how much of his mother’s kale and strawberry smoothie he drinks. He makes it to school early, as usual, and takes his seat. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The next face he recognises is Mark’s, and the friendly smile on it is not doing his stomach any favours. It just reminds him that he has a fake boyfriend now, one that he kind of has to introduce to his friends.

“Hey Jinyoung!” Mark smiles, taking the seat next to him. Jinyoung offers a quaint smile back and the elder seems to notice something is off.

“Are you feeling okay? You look kinda… funny.” Mark frowns.

“No, I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” He smiles and evidently it’s convincing enough because Mark drops it.

Soon enough the students start filing in, one after the other. Jackson takes his seat behind Mark only after exchanging a fist bump with him, and he calls over to Jinyoung.

 

“Hey, Jinyoung!” He whispers loudly and Jinyoung closes his eyes, already rubbing at his temples.

“What is it, _Jackson_?”

“I’ve found another guy who I think would suit you.” He whispers back but at this point Jinyoung’s pretty sure the whole class can hear.

“I’m not interested.”

“Oh come on, I know you are. You’re so lonely all the ti-” Jackson’s words fall short, however, as the last student enters the room. Jaebum strolls to the back of the room, rucksack hanging loosely off one shoulder, the zip falling open halfheartedly. His boots leave scuff marks on the linoleum floor and lots of eyes wander to the clock that shows he’s 6 minutes late for registration.

The teacher hardly acknowledges him as he starts to read out some notices from the Vice Principal, but Jinyoung’s mind is buzzing. He knows that Jackson and Yugyeom aren’t exactly Jaebum’s biggest fans (some bad blood back from when they were 15 and all trying out for the football team) so he’s really nervous about telling them. Maybe this was a mistake… but he can’t exactly back out now, not after he’s essentially promised Jaebum ￦4,800,000. He may as well get his money’s worth.

 

As they all get up to head to class, Jinyoung gnaws at his lips and turns to his friends.

“Uh, guys, I have something to tell you…” He says. Jackson smiles up at him, his arm around Mark’s shoulder.

“What is it?”

Jinyoung’s vision flickers over to Jaebum for a fraction of a second.

“I’ll tell you at break. Make sure Bambam and Yugyeom are there too.” He answers. And with that, he’s off, but he doesn’t entirely miss the way Jaebum trails behind him.

  


“You’re what?!” Yugyeom demands after a coughing fit caused by the combination of lemonade and Jinyoung’s news.

Jinyoung rubs his arm awkwardly.

“I’m kind of dating Jaebum.” He laughs a little but nobody else seems to be laughing along.

Yugyeom and Jackson are staring at him in shock, Mark seems to be surprised but he's also suppressing a smile at their bemusement and Bambam just looks alarmed.

“Jinyoung, are you sick? Do you need me to fetch the nurse?” He asks, tilting his head with concern. It causes Jinyoung’s stomach to churn and he almost wants to throw up his breakfast but not because he’s sick, because this isn’t going very well. 

He knew it was always going to be hard getting Yugyeom and Jackson to warm up to the idea but he hadn’t quite realised how much of a setback it would be.

“No, I’m not sick Bambam, we’re just… dating. Not much else to it.”

“How long?” Jackson interrogates, arms crossed defensively.

“2 weeks?” Jinyoung lies and the scandalised expressions are back.

“You’ve been dating that asshole for 2 weeks?! And you didn’t think to mention it?!” Yugyeom squawks and Jinyoung can feel a headache coming on.

“Yes. Look, I know you guys don’t like him, but he’s really not that bad. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary drama if I didn’t think it was going to last.”

Mark finally lets out a smile and a small chuckle.

“Well, I for one am happy for you.” He admits and Jinyoung breaths a sigh of relief. At least he's got one friend on his side.

 

Jinyoung can still hear Jackson whining as they make their way to class and it’s doing his head in.

“Look, Jackson,” Jinyoung interrupts his tantrum as he spins around on his heel. “If you don’t like Jaebum, then fine, but he’s my _boyfriend_ and I’d rather you stopped fucking complaining about him, okay? I’m not going to force you two to interact but for the love of God, please. Shut. Up.”

Bambam suppresses a smirk and Yugyeom snorts, the pair of them having given up their vendetta after Jinyoung swore he wasn’t going to break up with Jaebum over their petty feud.

Jackson clamps his mouth shut but looks a little like a kicked puppy, though Jinyoung tries not to care.

 

They all go their separate ways, finding their seats and getting their work out, and Jinyoung releases a breath of air he wasn’t even aware he’d been holding. This was going to be a long 6 months.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yh?? youngjae should be making an appearance next chapter! thanks for reading <3


	3. Put it into Practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so mad bc im going through a writers block and nothing im writing feels right :((( but i dont want to leave this fic too long without an update (bc otherwise ill procrastinate into oblivion) so here's chapter 3!

“I’m sorry, there’s no way you’re dating Park Jinyoung.” Youngjae quips with a snide smile as Jaebum lies on the hard slab of concrete next to him, basking in the last of the summer heat. He folds his arms behind his head for support and opens an eye to glance at his friend, who attempts for the nth time to get the basketball through the hoop.

“And why do you say that?” He asks, voice smooth but a little tired. 

Youngjae bounces the ball a couple of times before lining it up in front of his eye, ready to shoot.

“Because... well because it’s  _ Jinyoung _ .” He says, missing the the shot once again. 

“So?”

“C’mon Jaebum, you hate guys like Jinyoung. He’s rich and snobby and he  _ enjoys school _ . You guys are like, polar opposites.”

“Opposites attract.” Jaebum shrugs and shuts his eyes again, enjoying the way the light darts behind his eyelids in shades of deep orange and red. 

“Oh shut up. He stands for everything you don’t! While you spend your lunches spray painting rude words on the back of the music hall, he’s sitting in a teacher’s office doing extra credit work. While you’re struggling to get by, he’s throwing money at every problem he can. He’s class president and you don’t even  _ go  _ to class. You’re worlds apart.”

Jaebum hates how intuitive Youngjae is, and how he always hits the nail on it’s damn head. It’s admirable but it gets annoying really quickly. 

The two of them had been friends for years, ever since Jaebum had stuck up for the younger in a fight against some bullies, and they’d instantly just hit it off. Jaebum felt like Youngjae was one of the few people that didn’t judge him for his low grades or his disruptive behaviour, and besides, the kid was a catch. His smile could probably end a war (or start it, depending). 

“Yeah, well, Jinyoung’s different. Kind of. Look I just really like him, okay?” Jaebum lies and he prays to god it doesn’t sound forced. Youngjae hums suspiciously.

“Okay so I totally don’t buy that. Either this is some kind of complicated ruse or he's putting out and you’re desperate. I won’t judge if it’s the latter, he does have a nice bubble butt.”

"You're... what? Thats absurd..I-" Jaebum scoffs defensively and Youngjae laughs, not dismissing the way Jaebum seems unable to form coherent sentences. He raises the ball and aims again, and this time the ball falls through the hoop perfectly.

“Bingo.”

 

Jaebum trudges up the stairs to the rooftop, fairly certain there aren’t any teachers around. He’s skipping class again because it’s chemistry, by far his worst subject, and he doesn’t feel like being bombarded with questions about all his missing homework. 

As he bounds up the steps two at a time, desperate to feel the cool afternoon breeze on his face, he trips on the last one and only narrowly manages to grab the hand railing in time. He spots something fall out of his pocket in the process and frowns as he bends down to pick it up. It’s a folded piece of paper and suddenly he remembers Jinyoung handing him a list of personal ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’, the one he folded away to read later. The edges are slightly frayed from being left in his pocket and he opens it hurriedly, scanning the page.

 

**Yes: most forms of pda (kissing, hugging, etc.), teasing, pet names, ask about anything else.**

**No: groping, badmouthing, sexual innuendoes, double dates. that’s about it.**

 

Jaebum furrows his eyebrows as he takes it in and he feels a bit nauseous at the idea of even being on a double date with Jinyoung. This whole thing just seems to get worse and worse with every development it takes. He crumples the paper up into a ball in his fist with very little care for it’s well being, and thrusts it into his pocket. Maybe if he avoids Jinyoung the whole day he won’t have to do _ anything. _

He’d honestly considered telling Youngjae the truth, that the whole thing was a scam to get some girl off Jinyoung’s back, but he didn’t feel comfortable letting the younger know he was strapped for cash. Youngjae would only judge him for accepting the offer or would try to lend him the money and he was pretty sure he’d rather just suck up to Jinyoung for 6 months. 

 

He’s walking through the hallway at the end of the day when it happens, their first act of ‘pda’, so to say. 

“Jaebum!” Jinyoung calls out as the elder stalks past him, headphones on. Unfortunately for Jaebum, he notices Jackson standing nearby with a suspicious look in his eye, and he knows Jinyoung will straight up murder him if he doesn’t co-operate. He plasters a fake smile onto his face and turns around, tugging his headphones off.

“Jinyoung!” He grins, walking over to the other with the most convincing adoration he can muster.

Jinyoung smiles up at him and it’s scarily realistic, Jaebum thinks, as he slips a firm hand around Jaebum’s bicep. The two of them can feel Jackson’s eyes watching their every move so they do their best to act natural. 

“How has your day been? I didn’t see you in class.” Jinyoung starts the conversation and even Jaebum can tell he seems a bit tense.

“Oh, it was pretty good, yeah sorry about that I… had to clear my head.” He shrugs a little. He knows they must look absolutely absurd to everyone else, but people seem too busy to properly pick up on the interaction. It is weird though, the school ‘bad boy’ dressed in all black with piercings, talking to the class president with shoes that probably cost more than somebody’s college tuition. 

Jaebum sees Jackson leave out of the corner of his eye and he relaxes a little, shoulders drooping slightly. The smile on Jinyoung’s face falls to sheer indifference as he dumps his bag in Jaebum’s hands. 

“Well that was terribly unconvincing, Jaebum, honestly you need to do better.” He complains as he opens his locker to grab his books. Jaebum rolls his eyes and mimics the stupid prat but doesn’t return the scorn to his face.

“Hey it’s a first try and it’s not all on me, you weren’t too good yourself.” He grumbles, staring down at the expensive bag in his clutches.

Jinyoung turns back to say something (undoubtedly rude) but his face falls as he notices something behind Jaebum.

“Shit, act quickly.” He whispers, draping his arms over Jaebum’s shoulders as he conjures up a fake laugh that sounds pretty damn convincing to Jaebum’s ears. He’s not quite sure what’s going on but he plays along, leaning in to Jinyoung slightly. They’re getting some stares now and Jaebum suppresses the panic rising in him. He's gonna have to get used to it anyway. 

“Jinyoungie?” They hear a small voice from behind them and Jaebum turns his head to see who it is. 

“Oh, Nayeon, hi.” Jinyoung says with a weak smile and Jaebum sees the look of bewilderment perched neatly on her face.

“Why are you talking to  _ him _ ?” She asks, looking Jaebum up and down with immense distaste. He narrows his eyes at her. This must be the girl who’s been harassing Jinyoung. 

“Uh, well, I..” Jinyoung stutters and Jaebum’s surprised he’s not being more assertive. Was he really that scared of her or something?

“He’s dating me. Got a problem with that?” Jaebum speaks up, turning to face her full-on, slinging an arm around Jinyoung’s neck as he does.

Her eyes widen in shock and he can’t help but smirk as her mouth falls open a tad.

“You- You’re dating  _ him _ ?!” She almost screams and Jinyoung’s cheeks turn pink at the sudden attention it garners.

“I have a fucking name, you know.” Jaebum hisses and Jinyoung pacifies him with a gentle nudge to the chest.

“I told you Nayeon, I’m not into girls, okay? You’re nice and all but.. as Jaebum said. We’re an item.” Jinyoung shrugs and a hurt look briefly flickers across her face before it’s gone and replaced with anger. 

“Don’t think I’ll back down, Park Jinyoung, I will make you love me. I’ll make you see the truth.” She cries and with that she spins on her heel and storms off down the corridor, pushing through the people who seem to have listened in. Jinyoung sighs heavily. 

“Sorry about that. Now you see what I’m talking about.” 

Jaebum shakes his head after her.

“Jesus, what the fuck’s wrong with her?”

Jinyoung chuckles and pulls his bag over his arm, shutting his locker with a little more force than necessary. 

“I have no idea. Anyway, are you free this afternoon?”

Jaebum looks down at him apprehensively. 

“Why?”

“Because I was wondering if you wanted to come over to mine to do some recapping, planning, that kind of stuff?”

Jaebum considers it.

“I’ll also do your homework for you.” He offers with a deadpan expression.

“Deal.” Jaebum nods.

  
  


They walk home together and it earns them some curious looks, plus lots of whispered comments. Jaebum tries not to let it get to him.

“Are you okay? You seem… bothered.” Jinyoung asks as their steps fall into a steady rhythm, hands gripping their bags with an awkwardly tense grip.

Jaebum sighs.

“Yeah, I could just do without the whispering.”

“Ah,” Jinyoung nods. He’d been ignoring the unwanted attention, not usually too bothered by what others in the school thought of him (it’s not like they had his status or money anyway), but he could understand why it would annoy Jaebum.

 

After about 20 minutes of walking in stiff silence, Jaebum following Jinyoung down winding roads through rich neighbourhoods, they eventually arrive at Jinyoung’s house. Jaebum can’t help it when his mouth falls partially open as he takes in the sight before him. The large house with it’s almost flawless marble steps are intimidating and suddenly he feels himself grow light headed.

He always knew Jinyoung was filthy rich and that he must, by default, have a large house to boot but he’d never thought it would look this beautiful. It’s grey brick surface is spotless and the steps that lead up to it are made of sparkling white marble, clearly cleaned on a daily basis. It's massive and Jaebum wonders if he could fit their entire year group into it. The dark slate roofing is bewitching, it gives the house an almost castle-like feel to it, and Jaebum swallows harshly as Jinyoung casually strolls up to the matte black front door.

The doorbell rings out in a sweet tune and Jaebum bounces nervously behind Jinyoung, worried that the simple touch of his hand will sully the house. A short woman opens the door and looks up at the two of them, her face breaking out into a smile as she sees Jinyoung.

“Oh, Jinyoung! Welcome home,” She beams, stepping aside to let them in.

“Hi Jongok!” Jinyoung greets her with a bow. Jaebum quickly follows suit and does the same, not wanting to be rude.

“Who’s this handsome fella you’ve got here?” The smile she sends Jaebum’s throws him off guard and he doesn’t know how to respond, not used to having smiles thrown in his general direction. He can already feel his cheeks heating up. 

Jinyoung's house smells nice, kind of like flowers (lilies maybe?) and there's expensive looking ornaments dotted all around, topping the excessive wall tables and coffee counters.

“That’s just Jaebum, he’s a.. friend.” Jinyoung nods, stepping inside the house and tugging his bag off. Jaebum follows behind him and smiles politely at the woman, unsure of what exactly to do. He guesses she isn’t Jinyoung’s mother judging by the way Jinyoung greeted her and the fact that they hardly look alike.

“Would you boys like some tea?” She asks and Jaebum looks at Jinyoung cluelessly.

“No, we’re good, thank you anyway.” Jinyoung replies with a small smile. 

It’s weird seeing Jinyoung in his home environment, he seems more… relaxed. And more polite, somehow.

 

Once they reach Jinyoung’s bedroom, Jaebum finds himself unsurprised at the size of it. It’s huge, way bigger than his own bedroom, and he can’t help but feel a little resentment towards Jinyoung for it.

“Wow… big space you’ve got here.” He murmurs as he gazes up at the ceiling, which somehow also looks like it’s been cleaned. The walls are a mute shade of duck egg but they still look elegant, something he knows his mother would adore. The skirting board is a stark white in comparison and the intricate curls carved into it are more beautiful than anything Jaebum owns, he’s pretty sure. The room’s fairly bare beside the lavish furniture, filled only with a wardrobe, dresser, bed, desk and a chaise longue in the far corner. 

There’s nothing like the heaps of books scattered across the floor in Jaebum’s room, nor the newspaper clippings and photos with Youngjae pinned to the wall, or ticket stubs covering the door of his closet. It seems quite… empty. Beautiful and elegant but void of any and all personality.

Jaebum watches as Jinyoung drapes his jacket over the back of his desk chair and drops his bag onto the floor beside it. He turns back to Jaebum with a raised brow.

“Aren’t you gonna take your shoes off?” 

Jaebum snaps out of his daze and glances down at the boots on his feet.

“Should I?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

“Please. This is cream carpet, if it gets dirty don’t think I won’t make you pay for the cleaning bill.”

Jaebum tries not to snort (he really does) but it comes out anyway. If the glare Jinyoung shoots him is anything to go by, however, he’s definitely serious about that cleaning bill and so Jaebum gets to work untying his shoes.

“So.. Jongok… who is she?”

Jinyoung surveys Jaebum from where he’s standing by his bed, fiddling with his phone.

“She’s our maid.” He answers.

“You have a maid?” The disbelief sinking into his voice.

Jinyoung doesn’t seem to appreciate the tone that Jaebum uptakes, which he makes obvious with the scathing frown he gives him.

“Before you get started on your rant, she’s practically my second mother and I’ve known her since I was born, so I advise you keep your snarky comments to yourself.”

Jaebum blinks a few times before dodging eye contact with Jinyoung. It’s probably unfair of him to criticise Jinyoung for every little thing, especially if they’re trying to make this fake relationship work. He hadn’t quite realised just how much time he’d have to spend around Jinyoung over the next 6 months- he’d always been terrible at planning ahead.

 

“So, have you told any of your friends?” Jinyoung inquires as he takes a seat on the plush rug at the foot of his bed, pulling various notebooks and pens out of his bag.

“Uh, yeah, I told Youngjae.” Jaebum nods, sitting down opposite Jinyoung with his legs crossed tightly, almost scared to touch anything.

“Choi Youngjae? I didn’t realise you two were friends.”

“Well, we are. Best friends actually.”

“Huh.”

Jaebum feels his eyes narrow and a faint sense of anger bubbling just under the skin. It was hard to control his temper at times but over the years he’d gotten used to managing it. Yet somehow, Jinyoung seemed to know every possible way to push his buttons.

“What?” Jaebum asks through clenched teeth.

“Nothing. It’s just that Youngjae has pretty good grades and a fairly high attendance level so I wouldn’t have-”

“Thought that he could be my friend. Gotcha.” The venom in Jaebum’s voice seems to irk Jinyoung, who in response leans back and cocks his head.

“Look, Jaebum, when you’ve got the reputation that you have it’s expected that people will make assumptions about you. Don’t lie and pretend that you haven’t made just as many assumptions about me.” 

The corner of Jaebum’s mouth twitches but he knows Jinyoung is right, that he’s probably assumed the same things about Jinyoung twice over. Still- it pisses him off.

“Moving on,” Jinyoung ignores Jaebum’s exasperated scowl in favour of a blue folder that he opens and spreads between the two of them.

“This is where we keep any important information, so that we can fact check whenever we need to.” 

Jaebum gawks at the pages of detailed notes already filed away.

“Um… Do you really need to put this much effort in? This isn’t a class project.”

“Yes, Jaebum, I do.” Jinyoung confirms with a small sigh. “I like organisation and I like being able to access information easily. Say, for example, I wanted to check your dos and don’ts list, I can simply look it up in here.”

 

The sheer structure of it creeps Jaebum out a little. He’d never think to create a freaking  _ folder  _ about their fake relationship and he assumes most normal people wouldn’t?

“You’re insane.” He mumbles under his breath before raking a hand through his hair.

“Maybe, but when you end up needing to use this folder, I won’t hesitate to say I told you so.”

Jaebum rolls his eyes.

“So have you told _your_ friends?” He asks hesitantly. He knows that Jinyoung's friends with Jackson, Yugyeom and Bambam, and that they don’t exactly get on eye to eye, so he can’t imagine they’re too happy about the whole thing.

Jinyoung visibly tenses and Jaebum knows what to expect.

“Let me guess, Jackson threw a fit?” 

The younger nods weakly, offering an apologetic smile.

“Well at least they believed you. Youngjae flat out accused me of lying.”

At that, Jinyoung’s eyes widen and his smile falls to a flat line.

“Shit, really? Fuck.. what did you say?”

“I said that I like you and he was being ridiculous.”

Jaebum omits the whole thing about Jinyoung putting out because he doesn't think it's necessary to include.

“Crap, what if he outs us as a fake couple?”

“He wouldn’t do that, okay? Even if he doesn’t buy us dating, he’s got no reason to start shit. No evidence either.”

Jaebum sees his words calm Jinyoung down and he leans back on his hands, pushing away the oncoming headache.

“Okay so action plan. We need to get Youngjae to believe us, Jackson and Yugyeom to stop hating me as much and a way to get that fucking girl off your back for good.”

Jinyoung nods solemnly. He reaches over to his left and grabs a pen and a pad of paper.

“We’d better get to work.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk man (thank y'all for reading tho <3 ily all)


	4. Read the Fine Print

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so whats up guys hahahaahaha(/pretends it hasnt been 5 months since i last updated this fic) im so sorry it took this long!! but i had exams and i was going through writers block & then i wrote a 26k word fic & got struck with writers block again and i've been deleting everything i write but i've finally decided,, enough. i will not keep u waiting any longer. so here's an update!! i'm sorry it's not great but im trying??? rip ;;_;;
> 
> also unbeta'd bc its 6am and i havent slept and i can feel my eyeballs trying 2 escape my head

If Jaebum could’ve prepared himself for the hell that was pretending to be Park Jinyoung’s boyfriend, he’s not sure the  ₩800,000 a month would’ve come close to being worth it. Ok, yes, their circumstance has its perks (he’s never had somebody buy him expensive lunches so often in his entire life) but it’s only been two weeks and already Jinyoung is trying to change him.

“No offence, but you shouldn’t have picked me to be your boyfriend if you were going to try to get me to wear  _ slacks _ .” Jaebum whispers harshly as Jinyoung drags him around the store, slightly concerned that someone from school might overhear them.

“Listen, Jaebum,” Jinyoung sighs, picking out a ghastly sweater vest before turning to face him, sizing up his torso in a way that makes Jaebum feel both objectified and deeply concerned for his future fashion choices. “Your whole ‘punk’ getup, or whatever you call it, suits you on a regular day to day basis but it is  _ not  _ appropriate to wear at dinners with my parents. They’ve barely just made peace with the fact that I’m gay, the last thing they need is for me to bring home a guy that looks like he’d give me an illegal tattoo as a birthday present.”

Jaebum rolls his eyes and pretends the comment doesn’t sting a little, to save face, if anything.

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” He remarks and Jinyoung flashes him a smile.

“It’s the main source of my pride.”

There’s not much else to do but sigh and graciously accept the endless hangers of clothes Jinyoung dumps on him as he pulls Jaebum along to the other side of the store to pick out a new tie.

“So what am I supposed to do about the tongue piercing?” He asks curiously as he watches Jinyoung’s nimble fingers leaf through the various materials and colours. He seems pretty picky about finding the right ones, Jaebum would usually grab the cheapest and be done with it.

“I guess there’s nothing to be done about that. Just try not to open your mouth too wide.” He responds dismissively and somehow it’s even more infuriating than Jinyoung outright saying he doesn’t like it. 

 

In the two weeks that they’ve been at it, there’s been pretty minimal pda. He’s received a few glares from Jackson, Yugyeom and Nayeon especially, and the other kids at school have been weird about it in general, but nothing too disastrous has happened. Not yet anyway.

Youngjae still doesn’t seem entirely convinced but he’s having a hard time denying it, much to Jinyoung’s relief. He supposes the younger boy thinks much less of his resolve than he does and probably assumes Jaebum could only hold Jinyoung’s hand so many times without gagging if it weren't legit.  And there have been some pretty humiliating moments too. Jaebum doesn’t appreciate being told to feed Jinyoung his lunch in an obnoxiously cutesy way, smiling like a fool the entire time, as though watching Jinyoung munch on cucumber sticks gives him some kind of pleasure.

Let’s not even get started on his school attendance… Jinyoung had insisted he show up to the majority of his classes and actually attempt to drag up his grades, as a surefire way to prove to everyone that Jaebum truly does care about his relationship with Jinyoung. It’s pretty hard to do when the truth of it is that he really  _ doesn’t  _ care and couldn’t give two shits about grade point average, but he tries. For the money.

He clicks his piercing against his teeth in annoyance at the memory.

“Okay these should do.” Jinyoung turns to him with a handful of ties, carefully chosen shades of black and navy, lined with intricate detailing. Jaebum doesn’t want to think about how much they cost.

 

Jinyoung pulls him to the nearest set of changing rooms and ushers him into one of the empty stalls, trailing in and shutting the door behind him. The changing rooms here are large, Jaebum notes, as he admires the long floor-to-ceiling mirrors and white lights that line the length of the wall. There are multiple clothing pegs to hang things up and a few stools by the wall. He’s so overwhelmed he almost doesn’t realise Jinyoung is waiting behind him expectantly.

“Um, why are you in here?” He asks as his mind returns to him, brows knitted in confusion as he hangs the clothes up on the closest peg.

Jinyoung taps his foot against the floor impatiently and sighs again, looking for all the world like he’s bored out of his mind.

“I need to make sure they fit you properly, duh. Honestly, use your brain a little.”

Jaebum wrinkles his nose.

“Can’t you just wait outside or something?”

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow and Jaebum notices a small, almost indiscernible, smile tug at the corner of his lips.

“Why? Is our little Jaebummie shy?”

His voice is teasing and Jaebum hates it. Yes he’s shy but he’s too damn proud to admit it, so he simply shrugs and pulls his shirt off over his head. He can feel Jinyoung’s eyes on him, running over his shoulders and back, and he feels ever so slightly tempted to flex his biceps but he _doesn’t_ because he’s _not_ 15 years old and this is  _ Park Jinyoung  _ he’d be trying to impress.

“Nope, just thought you might not want to watch me changing.” He rebuttals and reaches for the first dinner shirt.

A small part of him had hoped to gage some sort of reaction from Jinyoung but the younger boy stands there impassively, watching as Jaebum tugs on the clothes.

 

The first shirt is a crisp white one and Jaebum finds it jarring when he looks at the mirror and sees himself already looking so much more professional. He turns back to Jinyoung, admiring the cuffs, and looks up for approval.

“What do you think?”

Jinyoung nods thoughtfully, finger coming up to scratch at his chin.

“I like it. Obviously you’ll need more than one shirt but the others are all the same make and fit, so it should be fine. I just want to check though,” Jinyoung says as he reaches for the next shirt, this one a deep navy. He holds up the cloth to Jaebum’s face and suddenly he feels self conscious with Jinyoung’s eyes on him this intently.

“It suits you.” Jinyoung muses aloud, a satisfied smile gracing his face as Jaebum tries to look anywhere else. “Ok now try on the trousers.”

Jaebum hesitates for a second, feeling the slight burn of embarrassment, but reaches for his zipper anyway. It’s not like Jinyoung hasn’t shared the same locker room as him since junior school, nothing's new.

 

Once he’s down to his boxers he turns to ask Jinyoung which pair he should try first, when he catches Jinyoung’s eyes on his ass.

“Are you checking me out?” He asks incredulously, slight amusement lacing his voice as he realises he finally has the upper hand. The idea of Jinyoung finding him attractive is a weird combination of unsettling and flattering, but either way it’s something he can make fun of, and if that isn't the whole point then he's not sure what is.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jaebum, just try on the damn chinos.” Jinyoung replies defensively but Jaebum can see the tips of his ears turning a bright pink and he smirks at the small victory.

“Aw, is Jinyoungie getting shy?” He taunts as he picks up the pair of trousers and slips his legs into them. 

 

He’s trying on clothes for the next 20 minutes, pulling different shirts and trousers on and off, trying to ignore Jinyoung’s hawk-like eyes on him. He’s not sure he’s ever felt this self conscious in his life and he’s also not sure why—it’s not like he gives a shit what Jinyoung thinks.

Finally he gets to the last items of clothing. It’s a black, two piece suit and fits nicely across his broad shoulders and thick thighs and as much as he hates to admit it, he looks pretty fucking dapper in it. Jinyoung makes him turn on the spot as he studies him from top to bottom, eyes lingering in places where the outfit hugs him nicely, and Jaebum can feel his cheeks warming up under the younger boy’s gaze.

“Is this good enough?” He asks nervously, wanting to be done with this whole experience.

Jinyoung takes a step forwards, turns Jaebum back around so he’s facing the mirror and starts to straighten out the jacket, fingers tucking and flattening with practised ease. Jaebum can’t help but watch Jinyoung’s hands move over the clothed planes of his body in the reflection, thinks about how they’d feel against his skin, and he suddenly wonders what’s gotten into him.

He’s probably just horny or something.

Finally, Jinyoung seems to be done with him. He admires his work before smiling at Jaebum in the mirror, resting a friendly hand on his shoulder. “And finally, I can introduce you to my parents.” He sighs before giving himself a literal pat on the back. Jaebum barely manages to contain his snort.

 

As they’re paying, Jaebum becomes suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of guilt, watching Jinyoung hand over one of his many platinum credit cards.

“Hey, you really don’t have to pay for these, you know?” Jaebum says to him quietly under his breath. Jinyoung shakes his head.

“No these are out of your price range and I’m the one insisting on them, I’m paying.”

For some reason this grates on Jaebum's nerves and he frowns.

“At least deduct it from what you’re paying me or something, I don’t need to depend on some wealthy asshole to buy me clothes.”

There’s a cooling sense of triumph in the pit of his stomach as Jinyoung looks quite affronted, both eyebrows raised like Jaebum’s the first person to ever call him an asshole (definitely not true).

“You are strange, Im Jaebum.” He sighs quickly enough, face wiped of all previous emotion. Jaebum waits until they’re out of the store before he prods at the topic again.

“Seriously, Jinyoung, you can take the cost out of what you owe me. Don’t look down on me just because I can’t afford the same things you can.” He argues and Jinyoung sighs.

“Jaebum, I won’t let you pay for them not because you can’t afford them but because I’m the reason you need to buy them in the first place. You don’t pay to go to a party you were invited to and you don’t pay for clothes that your fake boyfriend is forcing you to wear to impress his parents. Understand?”

Jaebum grinds his teeth together because Jinyoung is so infuriatingly patronising but he’s also got a fair point. It’s not like Jaebum really  _ wants  _ these clothes, so he begrudgingly drops the conversation and walks with Jinyoung back to his house in silence.

  
  
  


“Have fun in class.” Jaebum smiles as he painstakingly presses a kiss to the top of Jinyoung’s head. Jinyoung bats at his arm playfully before waltzing off with Mark to their next lesson and Jaebum tries to tamp down the feelings of slight nausea and anxiety as he heads over to Youngjae, brushing the outraged stares off as easily as if they were stapled to him. 

“I’m never not grossed out by you doing pda with him.” Youngjae complains as Jaebum comes to a stop by his locker, his hands busy filing through the hundreds of music sheets stacked inside for the right one.

Jaebum resists the temptation to say  _ neither am I  _ and instead tells Youngjae to stop being so bitter and lonely.

“I’ll have you know I finally asked out Momo just the other day.” Youngjae tells him proudly as he slams his locker shut. Jaebum’s mouth falls open in disbelief.

“Shit, you did? What did she say?” He demands, grabbing Youngjae by both shoulders and shaking him a little. He rarely gets this excited but Youngjae’s had a major crush on Momo since forever but he’d always been too shy to even speak to her.

Youngjae blinks and pries Jaebum’s hands off him as he says, “Oh, she totally turned me down. But I’m just happy I managed to ask her out.” 

Jaebum’s excitement crawls back into the shell from which it came and he lets out a dejected sigh, patting Youngjae on the shoulders comfortingly.

“Sorry to hear that dude, I know how much you like her.” 

Youngjae smiles at him and there doesn’t seem to be a trace of sadness in it, completely contradictory to his words.

“I don’t really mind as much as I thought I would. She said I was super sweet and it was nothing personal but she’s had her eyes on somebody else for a while. I can live with that, if she doesn’t want to date me, she doesn’t want to date me. No hard feelings about it.”

Jaebum smiles at that—smiles at just how  _ Youngjae  _ it is—and ruffles his hair.

“Let’s get going before Mr Jeon kicks our asses.”

  
  


As soon as the last bell rings, Jaebum feels relief wash over him at the prospect of going home and taking a four hour nap before his shift tonight. It's been a long day so, understandably, he’s a little bit blunt when Jinyoung approaches him in the corridor with the worst idea he’s ever heard.

“I’m going out for dinner with my friends tonight and I want you to come.” 

He answers with barely a beat between. “No fucking way.”

Jinyoung’s fingers come up to squeeze the bridge of his nose and he mutters something to himself under his breath, and Jaebum  _ really  _ doesn’t feel like having this conversation.

“Look, I know the last thing you want is to be around my friends, but it would be a huge help to both our cover and to patching things up between you and Jackson—”

“Jackson’s gonna be there? Double no fucking way, sorry. I can hardly handle you, I don’t really want choking some dumbass to death to go on my criminal record before I’ve even left school.”

Jinyoung glares daggers at him and Jaebum frowns back in earnest, arms folded defensively across his chest. He just wants to go home and sleep.

“Listen. If you don’t want to come for dinner, at least come fro pre-drinks? It should be an hour at most, you barely even have to talk, and then you can leave to do whatever it is you do. Please?”

Jaebum sighs reluctantly and curses internally at the fact that he’s actually considering it. An  _ hour  _ sounds more bearable, and it would help to solidify their story and appease Jinyoung before he gets incredibly whiny, but being around Jackson and god knows who else sounds very much like hell to Jaebum.

But then again, there’s something in the way Jinyoung is puppy-dog eyeing him that makes him feel like he should do this, even if it is just to avoid the inevitable wrath of Park Jinyoung.

“Ok, fine. But only an hour and you’re paying for me.” 

Jinyoung flashes him a smile and pats his cheeks in a way that’s only partly condescending.

“That’s my Jaebummie. I thought you didn’t like me buying you things, though?” He says it teasingly and Jaebum narrows his eyes.

“Don’t push your luck, Park.”

Jinyoung just gives him a catlike grin before strutting off, probably to find one of his minions. Jaebum hates the way that he catches himself smiling as he watches.

  
  
  


The moment Jaebum turns up at the fancy bar, eyes peeled for Jinyoung, and sees him sat with Jackson, Yugyeom and Bambam, his heart sinks to the pit of his gut. Mark isn’t even there to salvage the situation, not one of Jinyoung’s likeable friends is in eyeshot, and he steadily starts to feel the cold sting of regret settling in.  None of them catch his eye and he thinks about just how easy it would be to leave now and avoid the whole thing, but then he pictures Jinyoung talking his ear off about how he’s not pulling his weight in this fake relationship and blah blah blah, and decides it isn’t worth it.

Bambam notices him first and pulls a slight face of contempt but it’s gone in a flash as Jaebum takes his seat next to Jinyoung, the rest of them finally paying him some attention.

“Hey, thanks for coming.” Jinyoung beams and even Jaebum thinks it’s excessively false but he smiles back regardless and gives Jinyoung a little peck on the cheek for show. Jackson and Yugyeom are eyeing him with distaste, Bambam’s nose is buried in a drink, and so Jaebum replaces his warm greeting with a nod of acknowledgement. He just wants to make it through the hour.

And unfortunately, that’s much harder to do than he’d imagined.

 

If Jackson’s incessant quizzing hadn’t already been enough, then Yugyeom’s constant dirty looks and Bambam's rude behaviour is certainly getting close. He hates them all, hates the way they act like they’re better than everybody else. Jinyoung doesn't rise above them much either and Jaebum suddenly feels so out of his element in the upmarket establishment, couples in overpriced clothes scattered across the bar, thrust into every corner.

He just has fifteen minutes to go when he finally loses it. 

One of the waitresses drops the tray with their colourful drinks on it as she makes her way to their table, splashing the tiniest drops on Bambam’s shoes, and right then and there, all hell breaks loose. 

Bambam and Yugyeom start scolding her, ranting about how expensive his shoes are and how she can’t afford to be so clumsy, and the poor girl looks close to tears when Jaebum intervenes.

“Hey, leave her alone, it was an accident alright?”

The girl quickly apologises and rushes off, presumably to make more drinks or get something to clean it up with. Yugyeom is on Jaebum in an instant.

“Oh what, so you’re fucking Robin Hood now, or something? It’s her job to bring us drinks, not spill them on us.” He spits and Jaebum feels the familiar warmth of rage bubbling up under the skin, boiling his blood from it's underside.

“So? She’s a human, we make mistakes. These people get paid hardly anything to answer to your beck and call, you don’t fucking own them.”

Jinyoung looks between them anxiously and even Jackson is uncharacteristically silent as he watches the fight slowly unfold.

 

“Why do you even care? Is wittle Jaebummie feeling personally attacked? Does he also have a minimum wage job because his parents didn’t work hard like ours did? Does he—”

Jaebum slams his fist down on the table before viciously reaching across it and grabbing a fistful of Yugyeom’s shirt, hauling him up until they’re eye to eye. His jaw has tensed up and he knows his knuckles are white without looking because he’s close to ripping the material clasped between his fingers.

“Say one more fucking thing about my parents and I will shove a fork down your throat.” He says, voice venomous, and Yugyeom looks mildly scared for his life but still a little defiant. 

“Jaebum, put him down, you’re embarrassing me.” Jinyoung hisses quietly by his side and Jaebum lets go of Yugyeom’s shirt, enjoying the way he stumbles a little, but he’s so unbelievably angry that it doesn’t feel like much of a triumph. 

“Come find me when you get better friends, Jinyoung.” He snaps and with that, he’s leaving, Jinyoung hot on his trail as he storms out of the bar, ignoring any of the lingering looks from intrigued strangers.

 

He’s halfway down the street when Jinyoung grabs his elbow and forces him to stop.

“What the fuck do you want?” He snarls and Jinyoung blinks at him, slightly taken aback.

“What you pulled in there was incredibly childish. You’re supposed to be  _ trying  _ to get along with them.”

Jaebum snorts and rakes an incredulous hand through his hair, looking about as if searching for his own sanity. 

“Jesus, Jinyoung, do you hear yourself? They were being complete twats to that girl in there. How can you sit by and watch that? Just because you fuckers have money doesn’t mean you can control people and do whatever the hell you like, you know?” 

Jinyoung frowns at him, eyebrows pushed together and his mouth a straight line.

“Stop judging me and my friends for our wealth. What Yugyeom said was uncalled for and I’ll talk to him about it at some point but you’ve got to stop with this, this  _ obsession  _ you have with me being rich. It’s getting on my nerves.”

A bitter laugh bubbles up in Jaebum’s throat and he shuts his eyes, taking deep, calming breaths, just so he doesn’t lash out and hit Jinyoung. He doesn’t want to be that guy but this is seriously testing his boundaries.

“It’s getting on  _ your  _ nerves? I see. Cause it sucks so much having money, doesn’t it? It sucks so much to know where your next meal is coming from, to know that you can pay the bills and still have the nicest car. See, this is why I hate people like you. You think that you can do whatever you like, throw some money at it and everything will be fine. Wake up Jinyoung, this is real world and not everybody is gonna put up with your bullshit. That girl didn’t deserve being treated like that and if you can brush it off so easily, you don’t deserve an ounce of what you have.”

He’s yelling now, in the middle of the street, but there aren’t many people around to hear. Jinyoung’s self consciousness seems to have slipped away into the darkness as he clenches his fists and bites back.

“You don’t seem to hate my wealth when you benefit from it! When I buy you lunch or drinks, hell, you even took the job as my boyfriend just to get your hands on my money. Stop making everything so black and white, stop acting like you know everything about me! Why do you even care so much?!”

Jaebum pins his shaking hands to his sides.

“I—I fucking care because I can’t afford to buy medicine for my mother or even look after her, and you have everything you could ever want. You just don't see it, do you?!” Jaebum’s voice cracks halfway through the sentence and Jinyoung can see the tears brimming at the corners of his eye. Guilt crashes over him like a wave and he suddenly feels very, very small.

“Jaebum, I—”

“Save it. Fucking hell, you’re _such_ an asshole.” He mutters and then he leaves, fists buried in his coat pockets. Jinyoung stands alone on the pavement and watches as the neon streetlamp above him slowly flickers out, as though it can sense his newfound sadness. He’s only ever felt pity for Im Jaebum once before and he has to admit, it’s so much worse than he remembers. 

Maybe he really is an asshole.

 

 

Jaebum gets off his shift around midnight and the journey home has never felt as long as this. He ignores the 7 missed calls from Jinyoung and instead focuses his attention on kicking the pebble in front of him as he waits at the bus stop.

He feels awful in every sense of the word; tired from work, upset over his argument with Jinyoung, worried about going home to find his mother cowering in fear under her bed again. Sometimes he wonders what he’s even living for, if it will always be like this. Life’s just fucking unfair and it makes him seethe at how unchangeable it is, how little control he has over his own circumstances.

He kicks the pebble hard enough that it skitters off into the distance, enveloped by the shadows.

There’s a sudden vibration in his pocket and he sighs, letting his head fall forwards, forearms braced firmly against his thighs. He has a sneaking suspicion he’s going to find himself frustrated again as he takes out his phone and glances at the screen, Jinyoung’s name glowing by the backlight. He reads the text message, takes in every letter and lets his eyes roll over it dozens of times before he finally decides to grant Jinyoung his wish and call him.

The line picks up after the first ring.

“Jaebum?” 

Jinyoung’s voice sounds worried, nervous almost, and it puts Jaebum on edge.

“What do you want?” He replies gruffly and Jinyoung’s silent for a few seconds before speaking.

“I’m sorry. About earlier. You’re right, I’m a huge asshole, and—shit I should’ve stepped in for that girl, I should’ve told Yugyeom to shut up when he was arguing with you, and I shouldn’t have been so careless. I know you hate me and honestly, I kind of understand why. I guess I hate me a little, too. But if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I think…I think I’d like that.” 

Jaebum takes it all in. Every word, every pause for breath, it all sounds sincere.

 

“Well you’re right about the asshole thing.” He returns and he hears a slightly, breathy chuckle on the other end. “But you don’t have to apologise. You didn’t know. It’s fine.”

“It's not finer though. I was horrible to you and I may be a douchebag but I’m not above apologising. I just want to know if it’s enough.”

Jaebum mulls it over in his head for a moment, Jinyoung hanging onto the call patiently as he remains silent.

“I forgive you. But that’s the first strike.” 

Jinyoung laughs softly on the other end of the call and Jaebum quickly dismisses the smile it brings to his face.

“Fine, fine, fair enough. Three strikes is a good enough quota.”

 

Lights flash in Jaebum’s peripheral and he spots his bus coming in from the other side of the crossing, moonlight glaring off the windshield like a torch.

“I need to go, my bus is here.” He mumbles into his phone as he fishes for his bus card through the old receipts and chewing gum wrappers that fill his pockets.

“Alright, well, goodnight. Oh, and Jaebum?”

“What?”

“I know we’re...not close, I'm not sure you even consider me a friend, but...you can talk to me okay? Like, if you need somebody to rant to or whatever, I’m here.”

It takes Jaebum aback but he’s confronted with a stopped bus before he has time to digest it properly. 

“Thanks Jinyoung.”

 

And with that he hangs up, gets on and takes his seat at the back. Jinyoung’s words circle themselves in his mind the entire ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ???so yeah, i dont rly like this chap. but! thank u to everybody who has commented/kudos'd so far!!!!!! it honestly means so so much, i still cant believe this has 200+ kudos i want 2 cry and buy u all expensive gifts ilysm  <33
> 
> also u can send me questions n stuff at [ask.fm](http://ask.fm/w0nwoozi) and hmu on twitter @trash4jjp !!
> 
> have a good day!!

**Author's Note:**

> ???i have no clue what im doing but i love fake dating aus so i thought id write one bc im jjp trash!!!! thank u to everyone who read  <3 is anybody interested so far?? idk anyway <3 hope y'all have a good day
> 
> (also in case anybody's confused, in korea, tmk the school years go from march->mid-july and then have a break and then from late august->february, hence why theres only 6 months left! altho im not 100% sure where this is set lmao)


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